Another Airbrush Question

14 posts in this topic

I'm looking at upgrading my airbrush. The brush I'm using is a bottom-feed brush and I already have a number of bottles with my premixed paints so I was thinking of staying with a bottom-feed brush like the Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS as everyone seems to love the Eclipse brushes. One of my concerns is that it comes with a 0.5 mm tip. Can I get buy with just this tip and if not what all extra do I need to order to also use the 0.35 mm tip? I would like to hear any feedback you guys can offer.

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I have the hp bcs and love it very good brush for the smaller size you will need a needle and nozzle to fit the needle i bought those also but with the bottom feed it wasnt spraying the way i wanted it to it may have just been the way i mixed the paint maybe to thick but anyway i also bought a top feed with smallertip works very well for detail work just my opion good luck with new airbrush

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What about changing colors quickly and such? All I have to do now is pull off the color I'm using spray some cleaner through it and pop on the next color.

you just rinse out the paint cup with a squirt bottle and backwash a few times (cover the tip of the brush with your finger and spray so that it "backwashes" any paint back into the cup so you can clean it out). once your backwash is clear you're good to go.

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One of the drawbacks of using a siphon fed brush is that it needs more air pressure to pull paint from the bottom mounted bottle than a gravity fed brush. The only way I've been able to achieve any detail is to thin the paint, lower the air pressure, limit the amount of paint being shot through the brush and get really close to my work. You can do three out of the four of these with a siphon fed brush, but you can only lower the air pressure so much before it stops pulling paint out of the bottom mounted paint bottle. I have a gravity fed brush and quite often use as little as 3 to 5 psi air pressure. I don't think you'll be able to do that with a siphon fed brush.

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Have no fear of the top feed Iwatas. With a little practice you can pull some incredibly fine lines with them. The secret, like previously mentioned, is balancing the air pressure and mixture of the paint. Proper techniques can help a lot, like always keeping the air on and practicing your dagger strokes on paper towels before you hit the bait with the paint.

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I am new here but I use an iwata hp-ch when i'm painting multiple baits, and to do my fine detail i use my hp-b. Only problem is trying to do fine detail with the createx paints in pearls, they do not spray well in the .2mm tips. Larger tip size would help with that, i guess it's give and take.

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I got the top feed brush and it works great. I'm very happy with the control I have with it. I can spray with much lower pressure now.

Great!

Keep the bottom feed for base coating your lures, when you need two or three coats of the same color to get the coverage.

I have a Badger sypon brush, and that's all I use it for. I make jointed swim baits, so I use a lot of white base coat. The bottle holds enough for me to do a bait with several coats, or several baits with one coat, before I have to refill.

I'm no painter, only a hack, but this is what I've found works for me;

Keep a tupperware full of clean water next to your painting station, and lots of paint rags.

Get into a good backflush and clean regimen between colors, or between coats if you're going to take a break. It takes maybe 20 seconds to do a couple of backflush cleanings, and you're good to go.

Keep a spray bottle of clean water with a couple of drops of dish washing liquid in it, and spray a little and back flush with it after you've used the plain water a couple of times.

Take the needle out and wipe it clean every time you change colors.

And clean the nozzle with a brush between colors, so it won't spit.

If you don't do constant cleaning between coats and colors, you're faced with having to run acetone through your brush to clean out the paint that's begun to set inside it.

By incorporating a back flushing step in your painting you only have to clean the brush with acetone when it becomes really clogged.

I typically only run acetone through my brushes when I'm done painting for a while, or if I've slipped up and let some paint accumulate in the brush for a while.

Like I said, I'm no painter, but I manage to paint successfully using this method.

Edited March 7, 2011 by mark poulson

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I bought a Hi Line ch with a 3mm tip....this brush is, way better than i am right now.......I called Iwata and they told me for lure painting that they didn't recommend the Eclipes. They give me a lot of reason why i should go with a different brush...The brushes they told me to think about was....Revolution CR, HP- C+, Hi line CH with 3mm tip.....

80% of lure painting was done with Revolution CR.....I also saw this on a website called Tackle Making.....

I am new to this and did a lot of research before i spent my money.....i'm sure glad i did....

I have learned a lot from the people on TU......Thanks to all of you, maybe one day i can repay the favor...

DTL

Brent

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I bought a Hi Line ch with a 3mm tip....this brush is, way better than i am right now.......I called Iwata and they told me for lure painting that they didn't recommend the Eclipes. They give me a lot of reason why i should go with a different brush...The brushes they told me to think about was....Revolution CR, HP- C+, Hi line CH with 3mm tip.....

80% of lure painting was done with Revolution CR.....I also saw this on a website called Tackle Making.....

I am new to this and did a lot of research before i spent my money.....i'm sure glad i did....

I have learned a lot from the people on TU......Thanks to all of you, maybe one day i can repay the favor...